1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to holding a bracket supporting the attachment of cables to connectors in place within a computing system, and, more particularly, to holding such a bracket in place within a conventional slotted bracket.
2. Background Information
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary cross-sectional elevation of a computing system including a mother board 10 and a conventional circuit card 12 having a tab 14 inserted within a card edge connector 16 of the mother board 10. The rear end 18 of the circuit card 12 includes a card bracket 20 attached to a slotted bracket 22, forming part of the computing system, by means of a screw 24. An individual slot 26 within the slotted bracket 22 provides a space through which an I/O connector 28 extends for attachment to an external cable (not shown). Thus the card 12 is rigidly held in place by the screw 24 near its top edge 30 and by the engagement of its tab 14 with the card edge connector 16 near its lower edge 32. The mother board 10 may be a relatively large system (or planar) board extending inwardly adjacent a cover 36 of the computing system. Alternately, the mother board 10 may be a riser board extending perpendicularly from the system (or planer) board to provide for the attachment of one or more circuit cards 12.
Some applications require the mounting of a connector bracket (not shown) to provide an I/O connector extending through the a slot 26 in the slotted bracket 22 in a position not corresponding to that of a card 12 attached to a connector 16 of the mother board 10. For example, a circuit card 12 may require a provision for so many connections to external peripheral devices that such connections cannot all be made through connectors attached to the card bracket 20. In such an application, a connector bracket, similar in shape to a card bracket 20 but lacking means for attachment to a card, has been used to support the mounting of I/O connectors for the attachment of external cables. The connector bracket is mounted to extend adjacent a slot 26 adjacent the slot 26 at which the circuit card 12 is mounted.
Since the connector bracket is not connected to the card, except by means of flexible cables, the connector bracket is attached to the frame of the computing system only by the single screw 24 at the top of the connector bracket. In particular, the flexibility of the conventional connector bracket allows the force required to push a cable connector in place over the I/O connector 28 of the circuit card to deform the bracket 20 in a manner displacing the bracket inward. Except for the upper end of connector bracket, where the bracket is fastened in place by screw 24, the connector bracket is easily bent inward, in the direction of arrow 34, with the lower end 37 of the connector bracket moving freely inward from the adjacent section 38 of the slotted bracket 22.
This situation causes particular difficulties when a cable connector, such as a round DIN connector, is pushed onto a mating connector attached to a connector bracket of this sort, not physically supported by a circuit card 12. The connector bracket may become misaligned in a manner preventing the installation of the cable connector on the card connector due to mechanical interference with an edge of the slot 22 in the slotted bracket 20. After the connector bracket is pushed inward, there is no way to pull it back out, except by removing a cover of the computing system to manually access the inner side of the connector bracket, in a process which is, at best, inconvenient. The connector bracket then has to be pushed back into place with the cover removed and held as the cable connector is reinstalled. Even after this procedure has been completed, the connector bracket is not rigidly held in place, and the connector bracket may become bent or twisted if the cable is pulled, plugged into the connector bracket, or unplugged from the connector bracket.
Thus, what is needed is a means for rigidly holding a connector bracket in place on the slotted bracket. Since the interface between cards and brackets in computing systems has been widely standardized as a part of what has become known as an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), with hundreds of different types of computing systems providing a standard interface for adapter cards, it is particularly useful to maintain compatibility with the standard slotted bracket.
3. Description of the Prior Art
The patent literature includes a number of examples of devices for fastening circuit cards in place in ISA circuit card, or expansion board, configurations. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,146 describes the use of a first card guide to hold the ends of a number of such cards, opposite the card brackets thereof, in alignment, while a second card guide is used to hold lateral edges of these cards, extending between the ends and opposite the card edge connectors, also in alignment. Edge tabs from the cards extend into these connectors on the mother board. What is needed is a way to modify the card brackets so that they can be used to hold the cards in alignment without attachment to the card edge connectors and without additional, external card guide structures.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,980,275 describes a card bracket (not ISA) fastened to a mezzanine card, which is in turn fastened to a circuit card. What is needed is a method for fastening a circuit card in place with a dedicated bracket, mechanically independent from other cards and brackets.
According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a connector bracket for mounting a circuit connector to a slotted bracket in order to provide a number of electrical circuits extending through a slot within the slotted bracket. The connector bracket includes a first attachment surface, a central portion, an end tab and connector attachment means. The first attachment surface, disposed at a first end of the connector bracket, is for attaching the connector bracket to the slotted bracket with a fastener. The central portion extends inwardly adjacent the slotted bracket along the slot and overlapping the slot. The end tab, which is opposite the first end of the connector bracket, extends outwardly adjacent a portion of the slotted bracket extending from an end of the slot. The connector attachment means is for attaching the circuit connector to the connector bracket.